BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A fiscal year 2019 budget proposal from Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz will include a request for a program that would make community college free for some recent high school graduates.

Kamenetz says it’s called the Baltimore County College Promise program.

“This is a real game-changer for students from low or moderate income families for whom the benefits of a college education might otherwise be out of reach,” Kamenetz said.

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A fiscal year 2019 budget proposal from Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz will include a request for a program that would make community college free for some recent high school graduates.

Kamenetz says it’s called the Baltimore County College Promise program.

“This is a real game-changer for students from low or moderate income families for whom the benefits of a college education might otherwise be out of reach,” Kamenetz said. “It opens up a lifetime of career income opportunities.”

The program would guarantee that CCBC college tuition would be free for eligible recent high school graduates living in the county. It would apply to students pursuing an associate’s degree or a licensure or certification program.

“It will increase access to higher education for hard-working Baltimore County students who otherwise might struggle to meet the financial obligation of going to college,” according to CCBC President Sandra Kurtinitis.

Eligible students would live in Baltimore County and have an adjusted household income of $69,000 or less, the median income for county residents. Their high school GPA would have to be 2.5 or better, and they would have to maintain that GPA and full-time enrollment in CCBC.

TPA is not the promised land of jobs, as laid out in this Baltimore County assessment.

First off, FedEx only will bring around 350 full and part-time jobs.

As far as Under Armor is concerned, that company was supposed to be operating by this spring, yet there is no announcement of a lease being signed with TPA. The hype put forth by the three politicians featured in the photo – Maryland State Lieut.

As far as Under Armor is concerned, that company was supposed to be operating by this spring, yet there is no announcement of a lease being signed with TPA. The hype put forth by the three politicians featured in the photo – Maryland State Lieut. Gov. Boyd Rutherford, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, and 7th District Councilman Todd Crandell – is far from reality.

Some of the keywords in the below press release are as follows: Multimodal global logistics center, deepwater berths, railroads, highways, and storage space. Those words spell out some of the plans that will ultimately, in our opinion, negatively impact the entire 7th District of Baltimore County. Take a look at some more press releases from TPA’s site and you will get a better picture of the ultimate goal.

One thing you’ll also notice is that UA is not mentioned in the equation. According to VP Aaron Tomarchio, UA was slated to sign a lease for its massive warehouse at the TPA site. If you can find that announcement in some of these press releases, then please contact us immediately and we will correct our error.

The Baltimore Post strongly believes, and immensely opposes, granting taxpayer funds in a blatant show of corporate welfare to men like Baltimore Raven’s owner Steve Bisicotti and his cousin Jim Davis, who purchased the old steel mill for pennies on the dollar. Here is a quote from a recent Baltimore Sun article on the net worth of both Steve Biscotti and Jim Davis:

Cockeysville’s Jim Davis, a founder of staffing company Aerotek (later the Allegis Group) alongside Steve Bisciotti, has a net worth of $2.5 billion — up from the $1.2 billion reported last year. He ranks at No. 814 on Forbes’ list after coming in at No. 1476 in 2016.

The Baltimore Post keeps asking the same question as to why the taxpayers must be forced to provide hard-earned dollars to private enterprises that are owned by some of the wealthiest men in the world.

The egregious part of this issue deals with what is known as one of the most contaminated sites, which the Post will report on in detail in an upcoming column.

TPA’s press release follows:

CORRECTING and REPLACING Tradepoint Atlantic Welcomes Royal Farms as First Retail Tenant at Sparrows Point

Announces Royal Farms as first tenant to occupy 70-acre retail development, The Shoppes at Tradepoint Atlantic

CORRECTION…by Tradepoint Atlantic

November 17, 2017 06:30 AM Eastern Standard Time

BALTIMORE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Please replace the release issued November 15, 2017, at 11:40 a.m. ET with the below due to a correction in the second paragraph.

“The addition of Royal Farms marries a first-rate operator with a great deal of offerings to the burgeoning tenant development at Tradepoint Atlantic”

TRADEPOINT ATLANTIC WELCOMES ROYAL FARMS AS FIRST RETAIL TENANT AT SPARROWS POINT

Announces Royal Farms as first tenant to occupy 70-acre retail development, The Shoppes at Tradepoint Atlantic

Tradepoint Atlantic, a 3,100-acre multimodal global logistics center in Baltimore, Maryland featuring an unmatched combination of access to deepwater berths, railroads, highways, and storage space, today announced that Royal Farms, the Baltimore-based convenience store chain, has signed a long-term lease at Tradepoint Atlantic.

Royal Farms is the first tenant of Tradepoint Atlantic’s retail component, The Shoppes at Tradepoint Atlantic, a planned retail development comprising more than 70 acres of Tradepoint Atlantic. The Royal Farms development includes retail gas and diesel fueling, a convenience store, and car wash.

Royal Farms chose this premier 3.7-acre location for its direct access to I-695, proximity to BWI Airport, easy access to over 43,000 households and its adjacency to the newly constructed fulfillment centers at Tradepoint Atlantic.

“The addition of Royal Farms marries a first-rate operator with a great deal of offerings to the burgeoning tenant development at Tradepoint Atlantic,” said Greg Ferrante, Senior Vice President, JLL. “The surrounding residential population provides further convenience to the heavily-trafficked I-695 corridor, and we expect Royal Farms to do quite well here.”

“We are excited to welcome Royal Farms, which is a brand both highly recognizable to Baltimore-area consumers and is known for its consistently impressive quality,” said Eric Gilbert, Chief Development Officer of Tradepoint Atlantic. “Today’s announcement is a first step in the development of the retail portion of our project. We expect the thousands of people who will work at Tradepoint Atlantic and the tens of thousands that travel I-695 every day will welcome this highly accessible retail development to the area.”

Royal Farms will occupy one of the site’s seven free-standing retail pads. It is expected to open in late-2018. Headquartered in Baltimore since 1959, Royal Farms manages a chain of stores stretching throughout more than 180 locations in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

“We’re extremely proud, as well as excited, to take one of Baltimore’s favorite local brands and partner with a significant part of Baltimore’s history as well as its future as part of our business growth,” said Jeff Bainbridge, Director of Real Estate, Royal Farms. “In addition to the symbolic nature of our move to Sparrows Point, we’re eager to benefit from convenient access to thousands of customers on-site at Tradepoint Atlantic, as well as tens of thousands of customers in the immediate area.”

Royal Farms began as a family-owned dairy farm in 1918. It evolved into a fast casual, convenience, and gas station chain that now operates approximately 185 stores in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and is known for its award-winning coffee, fried chicken, and new signature inspired sandwiches, subs, and wraps. In 2017, Royal Farms was awarded by Forbes as one of “America’s Best Mid-Size Employers”. https://www.royalfarms.com

About Tradepoint Atlantic

The 3,100-acre multimodal global logistics center in Baltimore, Maryland, offers a gateway to markets around the United States and the world, featuring an unmatched combination of access to deep-water berths, rails and highways. Ground-breaking agreements signed with federal and state environmental regulators in 2014 to remediate the legacy from a century of steel-making, and the financial backing of investment firms Hilco Global and Redwood Capital Investments, as well as the robust support of local and state government, enable the redevelopment of the site through further infrastructure improvements. At full buildout, Tradepoint Atlantic is projected to generate 11,000 permanent jobs, $2.9 billion in annual economic impact, and add a point to Maryland’s gross domestic product as one of North America’s most strategic commercial gateways. www.tradepointatlantic.com

As far back as 2013, England found out the hard way about this massive fraud on taxpayers, as illustrated by these quotes:

Regarding costs, the £1.2 billion figure is merely a starting point. According to the Renewable Energy Foundation, the subsidy is likely to rise to £6 billion by 2020 if the Government is to meet its target of providing for 15 per cent of the country’s needs with renewable energy. Finding space to build the wind farms has created a veritable racket – landowners can expect to receive payments worth an average £40,000 a year for each large, three-megawatt turbine built on their land.

And what is the benefit of all this expense? In terms of jobs, disappointingly little. Greater Gabbard, an offshore wind farm, employs 100 people at its headquarters in Lowestoft, Suffolk. Divide Greater Gabbard’s subsidy of £129 million by 100, and each job is worth an incredible £1.29 million. The spend might be more justifiable if wind were an efficient and abundant energy source – but it simply is not. Its output fluctuates wildly depending on the amount of wind available. This week, our thousands of wind turbines managed to generate an impressive 12 per cent of our total energy production. But during our last cold, windless winter – when electricity demand was at its greatest – that fell to lows of 0.1 per cent

For those interested in math, one English pound is equal to $1.53 in U.S. currency (as of March 17, 2018).

Another very important factor is one that we have been covering for quite a few of these taxpayer-funded boondoggles–where the taxpayer money goes. Here’s a hint: it isn’t anywhere local. Many wind-farm companies are actually located overseas and use our tax dollars to enhance their bottom line.

The company creating the most turbulence right now is called US Wind and their efforts dot Ocean City with their giant windmills. Let’s take a close look at their corporate management:

Riccardo Toto, Director and President

Innovator and entrepreneur. Riccardo manages the company’s portfolio of offshore wind projects and oversees contracting and investor relations. As sole director and president of US Wind, Riccardo brings his 15+ years of experience in the fields of finance, corporate management and business to launch a new industry and Silicon Valley for Offshore Wind in the US. Riccardo has successfully led start-up companies in the aviation and renewable energy sectors, serving in previous roles as CEO of EAS and Managing Director of Air One. Riccardo is a graduate of the Institute for Technical Geometer in Foggia, Italy.

So, folks, what we have here is another overseas company taking hold of our land and our money to ingratiate the corporate elite and become even richer. Some people may be surprised to know that Amazon’s Jeff Bezos pays no taxes.

Thanks to our RINO (Republican In Name Only) Governor Larry Hogan, and fellow politicians like Sen. Johnny Salling, the taxpayers are about to get whacked again.

Now regarding the impact of Councilman Todd Crandell’s promise of 10,000 jobs related to TPA’s endeavors, the Post has learned that less then 3% of the total jobs (well below the 10,000 promised) at TPA are actually local. TPA will not release the total number of jobs at their site.

If you doubt our assessment on the issue, take a look at this video of a meeting involving our local politicians expressing their support of this foul wind headed in our direction. Take a look at the video the Post recorded involving the assessment of the great savior of wind power relationship to jobs and our economy.

The Post strongly believes that any politician, including Gov. Hogan, who is willing to spend $5 billion on bringing Amazon to Maryland, knowing that the majority of jobs are logistical (i.e., low-wage) needs to be held accountable.

Maybe one day the taxpayers and citizens of Baltimore County, along with the state of Maryland, will get the hint that it’s not about the people, but rather about power, money, and greed.

]]>http://thebaltimorepost.com/us-wind-owned-by-overseas-company-ready-to-blow-away-your-tax-dollars/feed0Lease agreement reveals Balt. County schools will own laptops it says must be given back – and stat!http://thebaltimorepost.com/lease-agreement-reveals-balt-county-schools-will-own-laptops-it-says-must-be-given-back-and-stat
http://thebaltimorepost.com/lease-agreement-reveals-balt-county-schools-will-own-laptops-it-says-must-be-given-back-and-stat#respondFri, 16 Mar 2018 20:19:27 +0000http://thebaltimorepost.com/?p=1797961

—– By: Ann Costantino —–

Baltimore County’s education board will vote on a $140 million Daly Computers contract next week to lease 133,000 new Hewlett Packard laptops over the next seven years, for the system’s laptop-for-every student – or STAT – program which began in 2014 under former Superintendent S. Dallas Dance.

While some elected officials and parents are asking the district to press the pause button long enough to assess STAT before moving forward, the school system’s central office staff has created a flurry of concern for teachers, stating that unless the contract goes through now, teachers will go without computers next school year after they are forced to turn them in at the end of a four-year lease agreement.

Baltimore County’s education board will vote on a $140 million Daly Computers contract next week to lease 133,000 new Hewlett Packard laptops over the next seven years, for the system’s laptop-for-every student – or STAT – program which began in 2014 under former Superintendent S. Dallas Dance.

While some elected officials and parents are asking the district to press the pause button long enough to assess STAT before moving forward, the school system’s central office staff has created a flurry of concern for teachers, stating that unless the contract goes through now, teachers will go without computers next school year after they are forced to turn them in at the end of a four-year lease agreement.

However, according to that lease agreement between the school system and Hewlett Packard (HP), Baltimore County Public Schools will very shortly own the devices leased in 2014, for the district’s first of four staggered 48-month leases.

In April 2013, eight months after taking the helm of the district, Dance announced his vision for a laptop-for-every-student software and online learning program.

One year later, the district signed a financing agreement with HP in order to lease devices over a seven-year, 4-part staggered cycle. The district contracted with Daly to maintain and service roughly 150,000 devices through its lease refresh program, records show. Each unit was to be leased through HP for a four-year period, after which Daly would be responsible for wiping the hard drive and disposing of each unit.

The HP lease and financing agreement, which was signed on April 9, 2014 by Dance and April 14, 2014 by a representative for HP, provided roughly 14,400 devices in 2014 for all Baltimore County teachers, as well as first through third graders in 10 Baltimore County elementary schools – called Lighthouse Schools – which were selected to pioneer Dance’s STAT initiative, called Students and Teachers Accessing Tomorrow.

On an unrelated note, although starting in the 10 schools, Dance said during a 2015 keynote speech that he never intended to pilot the STAT program, and that the Lighthouse schools were just a way to start the rollout. “You’ve got to start slow to go fast, and the only way we can do this is to have a Lighthouse school approach,” Dance said. “This is where we were going to have 10 elementary schools who would literally move this work forward. We were not going to pilot it, because we were very clear that ‘you’re not piloting anything.’ We needed 10 schools to start this transformation for us.”

The laptop leases would be staggered to accommodate the rollout as more grades and schools joined the initiative each year, after the 10 initial “Lighthouse” schools.

After the first year in 2014, the remaining grades and elementary schools were added, eventually spreading to all grades in the middle schools, as well as three high schools which Dance said would be “piloting” STAT. The three high schools originally were to pilot STAT for one year. Dance ultimately agreed to two.

Should the board vote in favor of the contract next week, the STAT program will expand to all remaining high schools, starting in the 2018-2019 school year.

Although a service agreement with Daly Computers states Daly is responsible for wiping hard drives and disposing of the devices after each laptop’s four-year lease expires, the lease agreement with HP states the devices belong to the school system at the expiration of each 48-month lease.

Yet, in response to concerns brought by board members and parents who are asking the system to further analyze the STAT program before entering the $140 million contract with Daly, the school system’s central office staff is informing teachers they will lose their devices next school year unless the board votes in favor of the contract next week.

Central office staff members have also organized a rally for the March 20 board meeting to show Baltimore County’s Board of Education that there is support for the expansion of STAT.

But some schools are being told that unless this contract passes next week, their devices will be returned to the leasing company.

In a March 12 email, Ryan Imbriale, Baltimore County schools’ executive director of Innovative Learning, who with former Superintendent Dallas Dance spearheaded the system’s laptop program, warned an advisory group that even the Lighthouse schools stand to lose their devices should the board not vote favorably next week.

Imbriale wrote, “Baltimore County Public Schools entered into a 7-year contract to lease devices in 2014. The contract provides four staggered four-year leases…If the Board of Education does not approve the new proposed contract, existing devices will be returned to the leasing company and new devices would not be issued for all BCPS teachers and students in Grades 1-3 at Lighthouse Schools.”

However, the HP lease agreement states that after each 48-month lease expires, ownership from Hewlett Packard (the lessor) is relinquished to Baltimore County schools (the lessee).

The lease agreement, which was signed by all parties in April of 2014, means that the majority of the first-year devices will become the property of Baltimore County Public Schools by the end of this school year – if not before.

Even education leaders may have been given inaccurate information.

During a March 6 Baltimore County school board meeting, Abby Beytin, president of the Teachers Association for Baltimore County – or TABCO – told the board, “If this contract is delayed, the teachers will not have the device in time and the master agreement will be broken. If the contract does not go forward at all, the teachers will have no devices to use next year because the current devices, which are leased, will have to be returned… Teachers cannot do their work without their devices,” Beytin said. “They will not be able to answer emails, access curriculum, work on the grade book and the list goes on and on.”

A school employee also told The Baltimore Post that Imbriale and employees from the Department of Innovative Learning “are making teachers think they will not have computers next year unless the contract is approved.”

With Baltimore County as owner of those initial devices obtained in 2014, the danger of teachers losing their laptops appears to be entirely in hands of Baltimore County Public Schools.

Neither the school system’s Department of Innovative Learning which leads STAT, nor the Department of Fiscal Services which handles the system’s contracts, responded to a request for comment or clarification. Due to traveling, Ms. Beytin could not be reached for comment.

At large board member, Ann Miller, told The Baltimore Post, “The erroneous information which has been provided to the board with almost no time to review it is staggering. From riling up teachers to fear they will be left without devices come June, to conflicting information on expenditures to date on the current device contract, BCPS has not done itself any service in presenting a convincing argument for approval of a $140 million contract.”

Julie Henn, also an at large member of the board, told The Post, “I have had it with BCPS’ intentional misrepresentation of facts and use of scare tactics to push their own agenda. It is bad enough that they mislead the Board by withholding information and providing conflicting information, but to resort to misleading teachers is beyond reproach,” Henn said. “How can the Board restore public trust in the system when we, ourselves, continue to be deceived and bullied into acquiescing to the agenda of the former superintendent – a convicted criminal? This is yet another malfeasance that demonstrates why an independent legislative audit is so critical.”

The two firms responsible for building Florida International University’s “instant bridge,” which suddenly collapsed Thursday and left six people dead, are coming under increased scrutiny as details emerge of past engineering failures and inspection fines — including a recent accusation that one hired “unskilled” and “careless” workers.

The $14.2-million pedestrian bridge was supposed to open next year to help students cross a busy road adjacent to the campus.

The two firms responsible for building Florida International University’s “instant bridge,” which suddenly collapsed Thursday and left six people dead, are coming under increased scrutiny as details emerge of past engineering failures and inspection fines — including a recent accusation that one hired “unskilled” and “careless” workers.

The $14.2-million pedestrian bridge was supposed to open next year to help students cross a busy road adjacent to the campus. It was an accelerated, joint construction effort by two Florida companies: MCM Construction, a Miami-based contractor, and Figg Bridge Design, based in Tallahassee, who both have worked on dozens of projects nationwide, ranging from military facilities to schools.

“Innovations take a design firm into an area where they don’t have applicable experience, and then we have another unexpected failure on our hands,” Robert Bea, a professor of engineering and construction management at the University of California, Berkeley, told the Associated Press after reviewing the bridge’s design — and the pile of rubble it was reduced to on Thursday afternoon.

As state and federal investigators worked Friday to determine how and why the five-day-old span failed, one factor may have been the stress test Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said crews were conducting on the span. Two workers were on the 950-ton bridge when it pancaked on top of vehicles waiting at a stoplight.

March 15, 2018: The collapsed pedestrian bridge at Florida International University in the Miami area.

(AP/DroneBase)

Renderings of the project before it went up showed a tall, off-center tower with supporting cables attached to the walkway, the Associated Press reported. When the bridge collapsed, the main tower had not yet been installed, and it was unclear what builders were using as temporary supports.

But the collapse is not the first incident involving either company.

The Virginia Department of Labor cited Figg for four violations in 2012 after a 90-ton slab of concrete fell from a bridge it was building near Norfolk, according to the Miami Herald.

Figg was hit with a $28,000 fine and the Department of Labor said the company modified a girder without properly inspecting it or getting written consent from its manufacturer, The Virginian-Pilot reported.

The girder ultimately failed and was responsible for the collapse, which ended up delaying the bridge’s opening for three months and leaving four workers with minor injuries.

Despite this collapse, the company said Thursday that “in our 40-year history, nothing like this has ever happened before.”

MCM Construction, meanwhile, in a lawsuit filed earlier this month, was accused of hiring “incompetent, inexperienced, unskilled or careless employees.”

The company is building an expansion to Fort Lauderdale International Airport and a worker there was injured when a makeshift bridge collapsed under his weight, the lawsuit says, according to the Winston Salem-Journal.

The newspaper, citing Occupational Safety Health Administration records, also said MCM has been slapped with fines totaling more than $50,000 during the past five years for 11 safety violations, which included complaints about cement dust and unsafe trenches at construction sites.

At one point, a subcontractor that walked off a job site won a $143,000 judgment against MCM after citing safety issues with a bridge project on Red Road in the Miami area, the Miami Herald reported.

“MCM is a family business and we are all devastated and doing everything we can to assist,” the company said in a statement on its website Thursday. “We will conduct a full investigation to determine exactly what went wrong and will cooperate with investigators on scene in every way.”

The “building projects” tab of the company’s website shows it has worked on jobs at PortMiami and has built schools, police buildings and adult living facilities.

The Miami Herald, which called MCM one of the “most influential contractors in Miami-Dade,” reported that its name also appears on $130 million in construction jobs from the Department of the Defense and a $63 million school at the Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay.

The accelerated construction method was supposed to reduce risks to workers and pedestrians and minimize traffic disruption, the university had said.

The school has long been interested in this kind of bridge design; in 2010, it opened an Accelerated Bridge Construction Center to “provide the transportation industry with the tools needed to effectively and economically utilize the principles of ABC to enhance mobility and safety, and produce safe, environmentally friendly, long-lasting bridges.

“FIU is about building bridges and student safety. This project accomplishes our mission beautifully,” school president Mark B. Rosenberg said in a statement Saturday that now appears to have been taken off the university’s website.

“We are filled with pride and satisfaction at seeing this engineering feat come to life and connect our campus to the surrounding community where thousands of our students live,” he added.

The FIU community, along with Sweetwater and county officials, even held a “bridge watch party” March 10. That’s when the span was lifted from its temporary supports, rotated 90 degrees across an eight-lane thoroughfare and lowered into its permanent position over the busy road.

Rosenberg said Thursday after the bridge’s collapse that the community is feeling “immense sadness, uncontrollable sadness.”

“We’re committed to assist in all efforts necessary, and our hope is that this sadness can galvanize the entire community to stay the course, a course of goodness, of hope, of opportunity,” Rosenberg said.

The identities of the victims have not yet been released and responders were still looking into the rubble Friday for more people who may be trapped.

Burt Reynolds had a bizarre interview on the “Today” show on Thursday, March 15, 2018.

(Reuters)

Legendary actor Burt Reynolds told “Today” show host Hoda Kotb in a bizarre interview Thursday that he was “proud” of her for not having her lips plumped.

Reynolds, 82, was on the “Today” show promoting his latest movie “The Last Movie Star” and he opted to wrap up the chat by focusing on Kotb’s looks.

Reynolds told Kotb, “I am so proud of you for not having your lips larger.”

Kotb replied by laughing and saying “OK, all right Burt.”

Earlier on in the chat, he made eyebrow-raising comments about Sally Fields.

Kotb asked Reynolds who the love of his life was.

“You’re naughty, you really are. I’m dead in the water no matter what I say. Well, she was 7 when I fell in love with her. She stayed 7 for about 11 years. I would say Sally,” the “Boogie Nights” actor replied.

Burt Reynolds opened up about his strained relationship with his father.

“No, but he wasn’t happy, you know. He wanted me to be — you know something to talk to the guys on the force about. Not that he’s working with Candy Bergen [Candice Bergen] with for me doesn’t get any better,” Reynolds replied.

Kotb pressed further about Reynolds’ relationship with his father and if he ever said he was proud of him

“He did to other people but not to me,” Reynolds said. “I would ask him what did you think of the last picture dad and he said ‘What picture?’”

Reynolds recalled an incident when he was arrested by his father for fighting. He said his father threw the suspects into the “drunk tank” but let them go once their fathers picked them up, except for Reynolds.

“He looks at me and says your father didn’t show up. It was tough, slow but I loved him,” Reynolds said.

Thousands of students across the nation, including hundreds in Maryland, walked out of their schools Wednesday morning in memory of the people who lost their lives in the Parkland, Florida, school shooting.

Hundreds of students at Perry Hall High School participated in the walkout. About 300 kids walked there, 11 News education reporter Tim Tooten reported.

Hundreds of students at Perry Hall High School participated in the walkout. About 300 kids walked there, 11 News education reporter Tim Tooten reported.

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“I think it’s pretty positive. You usually don’t get a lot of high school kids — you know, everyone has their cliques and different groups to hang out with, but to see everybody really come together for something this positive is really, really great,” Perry Hall student Reggie Davis said.

Parents were also at the school to support students.

“I think it’s amazing,” Perry Hall parent Erin Myers said. “They’re our future voters. These are the people we have to listen to. They are going to change things. I hope they’re going to change things. I’m sick of it. There’s enough school violence, and I’m tired of being worried about sending my kids to school.”

There was also a large turnout at Poly-Western High School in Baltimore, and at Annapolis High School in Annapolis. About 100 kids walked out at Loch Raven High School in Towson. Students at Fallston High School formed a circle behind the school building.

Tae Vancura

Students at Fallston High School formed a circle behind the school building.

Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Dr. Sanja Santelises sent out the following statement:

“Our young people are always inspirational, and today they learned that they are powerful. The issue of gun violence has touched many of our students directly, and all of us in Baltimore have felt its effects. After too much violence and too little action, our students are showing all of us a path with the promise of real change. I am proud of their productive participation in this nationwide movement and, as an educator, I am proud and moved by the many ways they expressed their views — through silent protest, marches, writing, songs and chants – in a real-life application of student voice. I look forward to seeing where they will lead.”

“I hope that our lawmakers and the people in Washington will understand that the students don’t really feel safe,” said Russell Huntley, of Poly-Western High School.

Students at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia also walked out. SkyTeam 11 watched as about 150 kids walk out at Lake Clifton Eastern High School in Baltimore.

“I was just really impressed with these kids who are protesting gun violence but also asking Congress to pass laws that protect people,” said Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz.

Baltimore students as young as middle schoolers also joined in the national walkout event.

Roland Park Middle School students were also allowed to participate in an adult-supervised program. Dozens of students participated in the planned event. The school’s principal, Nick D’Ambrosio, sent the following email home to parents about the event.

“I also want to take this time to inform all parents and guardians of an upcoming demonstration scheduled for Wednesday, March 14th in response to the most recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida. The national demonstration known as National School Walk-Out Day will take place for 17 minutes between 10:00 am and 10:17 am. The 17 minutes represents the number of victims of the school shooting in Parkland. Students have the right to participate and will be provided with supervision during this experience. If participating, students will be escorted outside and remain on campus during the 17 minutes. Students who do not choose to participate will remain in school under the supervision of staff as well. If you have any specific questions regarding this activity or your child’s participation, please contact me directly.

“Students in grades pre-kindergarten through third grade will not be made aware of the action or the incident in Parkland, Florida by Roland Park staff. We want to continue to ensure their safety at school and recognize that many families are intentionally keeping their children from the recent school shooting.”

After a deferred vote last week, Baltimore County Public Schools’ education board will vote on March 20 for an additional $140 million Daly Computers contract to continue S.T.A.T., the district’s laptop-for-every student program, by leasing 133,000 laptops for its 113,000 students, teachers and staff.

The vote, which is expected to pass in spite of increasing community opposition, will complete former Superintendent S.

After a deferred vote last week, Baltimore County Public Schools’ education board will vote on March 20 for an additional $140 million Daly Computers contract to continue S.T.A.T., the district’s laptop-for-every student program, by leasing 133,000 laptops for its 113,000 students, teachers and staff.

The vote, which is expected to pass in spite of increasing community opposition, will complete former Superintendent S. Dallas Dance’s mission to transform teaching and learning in Baltimore County through a laptop-for-every student program he says students named “Students and Teachers Accessing Tomorrow.”

While concerned parents and advocacy groups are seeking a more responsible use of technology in the classroom, some school officials have created an “all or none” scenario, and have planned a rally warning the board of education that unless the Daly contract goes forward, teachers and students will be left without any options to move forward – at all.

Both Dance and Ryan Imbriale, the executive director for the school system’s Department of Innovative Learning, call it “second order change,” and it is a topic about which each spoke in detail to audiences within and outside of the school system.

“What we spent a lot of time talking to our principals about was not the technology. We spent a lot of time talking to them about the leadership that is required for second order change,” Dance said. “When you do a second order change, we can’t go back to business as usual. This is really letting our guards down creating this culture of innovation and risk-taking and that is what professional development looked like from a leadership perspective,” he said at a 2016 talk he gave for the Learning Counsel.

Imbriale, who trained school system staff members on STAT and the conversion to software and online-based lessons, explained the changes that would be occurring in Baltimore County.

On a slide from a July 2013 presentation, there was little doubt what was meant. “First-order change is doing something we have been doing but with adjustments. First order change is always reversible. Second order change is doing something so significantly and fundamentally different that it is irreversible. Once begun, it is impossible to return to what you were doing before.”

The contract discussion also leaves no room for change.

Without apparent room for negotiation or input, several parents expressed frustration about the school system’s laptop expansion at last week’s school board meeting.

But to ensure the school system has a voice at the March 20 meeting, Imbriale is summoning the power of numbers, by organizing a large rally of principals, teachers and parents to help demonstrate to the district’s education board that there is significant demand for the continuation of the system’s STAT program.

It’s a tactic that some parents and teachers see as a way to “stuff the speakers’ box” and drown out growing parental concern.

And it is not the first time it has happened.

During a public hearing two years ago to discuss former Superintendent Dance’s contract renewal and two unrelated topics, young students gripping laptops, school principals and over one hundred teachers rallied with claps, cheers and colorful signs to show support for the STAT program.

The January 2016 event, which brought a handful of critics who called former Superintendent Dance out on his frequent travel and questionable relationship with education consulting company, SUPES Academy, would later be nicknamed “Statapalooza,” after what some parents and teachers called an orchestrated ambush of a meeting intended for other purposes.

The majority of the board later voted to continue Dance’s contract.

Dance, who left the school system a year into that contract, had been under an unknown criminal investigation at the time he resigned. He was indicted in January and pleaded guilty last week for lying on his financial disclosure forms about roughly $147,000 he earned for delivering keynote speeches throughout the country and consulting work he did for companies, including $90,000 for SUPES Academy and an affiliated company.

Anticipated to be “Statapalooza 2.0,” sources have told The Baltimore Post that March 20’s organized rally is “expecting a big turnout to support the computer contract,” and that Imbriale and employees from the Department of Innovative Learning “are making teachers think they will not have computers next year unless the contract is approved.”

In a public blog post, called “Take a Stand, BCPS Stakeholders,” Nick Schiner, who works for Imbriale in the school system’s Department of Innovative Learning, wrote last week, “I want to put this bluntly. If the Baltimore County Public Schools’ Board of Education votes ‘NO’ on this new device contract, they are moving our district backwards,” he said. “A ‘NO’ vote means teaching tools come out of the hands of our gifted educators and, equally as important, out of the hands of our students.”

Abby Beytin from the Teachers Association for Baltimore County – or TABCO – admonished board members and asked them to give a ‘yes’ vote, despite what she said was a diversity of opinions about the laptop program for students.

“As you wrestle with the topic of devices for staff and students, I will tell you that my teachers are of differing opinions when it comes to the student devices. There are those that think they are wonderful and have added depth in capabilities to reach students in their classrooms. There are those who think they should not have a device for each child. And there are some that feel we need to be somewhere in between,” Beytin said.

But, “if this contract is delayed,” she continued, “the teachers will not have the device in time and the master agreement will be broken. If the contract does not go forward at all, the teachers will have no devices to use next year because the current devices, which are leased, will have to be returned… Teachers cannot do their work without their devices,” Beytin said. “They will not be able to answer emails, access curriculum, work on the grade book and the list goes on and on.”

Catonsville’s Pete Fitzpatrick, who is running for the Board of Education’s District One slot in this year’s first ever school board election, weighed in on his campaign page about the topic. He said he received an email from a mom in the school system whose child “came home in a full-on panic…”

Fitzpatrick said the child was “stirred up over having his device taken away at the end of the school year if the Board of Education doesn’t approve the contract. He said, “His mom is furious that he seem to have been sent home with what seems to be a targeted message.”

“This technology contract issue is a discussion between parties that differ in beliefs, but absolutely share a desire to see done what’s best for education,” Fitzpatrick said. “We can’t share such a desire, and use the kids as a fulcrum to lever an agenda.”

Several parents voiced concerns at last week’s board meeting, asking the school system to slow down and reassess.

Christina Pumphrey, president of Pine Grove Middle School’s Parent, Teacher and Student Association (PTSA) wants a delay until the program is reanalyzed. “Before approving this contract, a new analysis of the STAT program should be completed, in addition to the completion of an outside audit,” Pumphrey said.

Pumphrey, who said as PTSA president she is receiving feedback about the STAT program, said “It is obvious that a majority of parents know that the implementation of STAT, as it is now, was a huge mistake. The program needs to be reanalyzed before approval of a $140 million contract,” she said. “Our voices weren’t heard when the initiative first began and our voices are not being heard now, and that is extremely frustrating.”

Pumphrey then warned the board, “If this contract is approved without further analysis of STAT, I will fight with all I have to inform parents of the numerous problems and the waste of money that STAT involves. I encourage parents to refuse to sign paperwork at the beginning of the year for the devices.” She said, “I will continue to push this initiative on social media and through any means I can to make sure our voices are finally heard.”

A parent of a first grader with concerns then spoke to the board. She expressed concerns about her six year-old son’s access to the internet at school through his device and asked the board who was responsible for her child’s safety. The parent said that when she asked her child’s school, she was told that it was “my first grader’s job to stay on task and to only click on what is instructed.”

The mother said that through her child’s device she was able to find an article about reality star, Kim Kardashian, performing a sexual act on someone. The mother said the search box auto-filled the request after she typed “Kim,” which is the result of apparent widespread internet searches on the subject outside of the school system. She said that even the IT professional at the school was unaware that it was a possibility.

“Who is protecting my child from the harmful content that doesn’t quite register as porn?” the mother asked.

In contrast, a kindergarten teacher from Randallstown Elementary in favor of the devices said that in her school, “technology at home is not always prevalent, so it’s important to have them in our classrooms.”

The teacher spoke of her students who are learning to speak English and that it is a tool to promote English proficiency because she does not speak their native language.

The teacher said for her other students the devices are a “good motivator,” especially for “fine motor skills which is what I focus on in my classroom. We do research projects, animal projects and using tools such as PebbleGo and BrainPop is wonderful because for students who cannot necessarily read, it reads to them,” she said. “And having that research tool is so important to prepare them for college and career readiness, even at the age of five.”

A Towson-based middle school teacher told the Board last week that he was in favor of the devices because he said his students “are able to work together to solve a real life problem in project work teams,” on them.

Furthermore, the teacher said, it “mirrors the world of work.” He said that through the devices, his students can “see more of the world around them and they’re figuring out how to change that world and make it better.”

Eight months on the job with Baltimore County schools, in April 2013, Dance announced his vision for a laptop-for-every-student program at his first State of Schools address. Dance later told a group of Catonsville High School students in a recorded interview that he came up with the idea after visiting schools within the system and seeing inequities between them.

Dance told the students “Baltimore County is a very large county, very diverse county, you would go into some schools and there would be technology where it was still in boxes, so much that folks couldn’t use it. Then there were some that did not have any. And so we said, ‘let’s go ahead and level the playing field and make sure that we actually allow students to access every single thing that we wanted them to have through a mobile learning device.’”

Two advocacy groups that each acknowledge the benefits of technology in the classroom, yet have concerns about STAT’s implementation and curriculum delivery, have been pushing for House Bill 1110. The legislation, if passed, would direct the Department of Health, in consultation with the Department of Education, to craft guidelines to ensure students in pre-K through high school use digital devices safely in class and at home for homework.

The PTA Council for Baltimore County, which represents over 30,000 members in more than 150 local PTA and PTSAs serving Baltimore County Public Schools, also acknowledges that technology can be a powerful learning tool for students, but believes that “devices must be integrated into classroom learning thoughtfully and appropriately, especially for very young students.”

Advocates for Baltimore County Public Schools – or ABC Schools, which runs a Facebook Group comprised of over twenty five hundred parents, teachers and education advocates, says the issue is not one of technology versus no technology; it is, instead, a matter of how the technology is used.

“Our advocacy group understands that there is a role for technology in schools for children, but it must be used safely, and in balance with everything children need to be healthy and learn,” the core members wrote in a letter to the House Ways and Means Committee in support of the bill.

ABC Schools also made an announcement today about retaliation some teachers are experiencing by Baltimore County schools’ central office staff. Some teachers have been confronted for speaking out on their observations about the STAT program.

It is unclear if Imbriale’s “second order change” allows for tweaking of the STAT program. He, nor his central office staff, responded to a request for comment.

We have all been there. You are enjoying time with your family when your phone rings. You look at the Caller ID and while the number is familiar, it is still not someone that you know. You answer the call and immediately get “Hello, this is Mike from Tech Support” or maybe “This is John from Windows.

“Don’t worry, I’m from Tech Support…“

We have all been there. You are enjoying time with your family when your phone rings. You look at the Caller ID and while the number is familiar, it is still not someone that you know. You answer the call and immediately get “Hello, this is Mike from Tech Support” or maybe “This is John from Windows. Your computer is telling us that you have a virus“.

What do these types of calls have in common? They are trying to get you to buy into what they are selling. And what they are often selling is nothing more than vapor. It seems very plausible that Microsoft would call you when your computer has a virus. However, Microsoft does not want to deal with your virus problems. They are a software development company that just so happens to write a very popular Operating System called Windows. To clarify, Microsoft will not call you.

Microsoft will not make unsolicited phone calls about computer security or software fixes. If you receive a call like this one, it’s a scam, and all you need to do is hang up.

The scammers are trying to gain remote access to your computer. Once inside your computer, these thieves would be able to get your bank accounts, your passwords, maybe your tax return info. Anything that might be of interest or of value. So don’t give them access. Do not allow them to see your account information, your passwords, or your tax returns. I used to work in the security industry. The common phrase was that it is easier to catch a thief on your lawn than on your carpet.

So how do you fight these scammers? Simply hang up. You can engage with them and even point out that you know the real reason why they are calling, however, it would only be wasted breath. You see, once they hang up with you, their phone system will be dialing the next victim. Simply hang up. Many times this action will actually get your number removed from their auto-dialers.

In his first three and a half years on the job as the head of Baltimore County Public Schools, former Superintendent S. Dallas Dance earned more than $227,000 in both disclosed and undisclosed income while teaching other school leaders about courageous leadership, using technology in education, and the role of superintendent as a “team builder,” “advocate” and “ethical leader.”

But throughout his tenure, Dance earned money moonlighting by instructing one group of aspiring superintendents, teaching two year-round college courses, consulting for three years with vendors, guiding four out-of-state school systems and delivering at least five paid keynote speeches.

In his first three and a half years on the job as the head of Baltimore County Public Schools, former Superintendent S. Dallas Dance earned more than $227,000 in both disclosed and undisclosed income while teaching other school leaders about courageous leadership, using technology in education, and the role of superintendent as a “team builder,” “advocate” and “ethical leader.”

But throughout his tenure, Dance earned money moonlighting by instructing one group of aspiring superintendents, teaching two year-round college courses, consulting for three years with vendors, guiding four out-of-state school systems and delivering at least five paid keynote speeches.

Yet while the former superintendent was known for his frequent out of state travel and speaking engagements, it wasn’t until a 2016 county-level ethics violation – which forced him to declare some income – that prompted Dance to disclose any outside work at all.

Even still, that disclosure failed to tease out all of his side work, records show.

It was then, in 2016, when Dance amended his financial disclosure forms – under penalty of perjury – to include approximately $80,000 earned between 2012 and 2015; and it was then that he lost the opportunity to set the entire record straight.

Stating the forms were confusing, Dance agreed to update the documents for every year of his employment. But he would choose only to disclose an adjunct professor job he held with the University of Richmond and one $575 payment he stated his father earned for Dance’s consultant company, Deliberate Excellence, LLC.

Despite that chance in 2016 to amend the documents, Maryland State prosecutors allege that Dance withheld the $147,000 of income between 2012 and 2015. As a result, a grand jury found cause to indict the former superintendent on four charges of perjury.

An investigation by The Baltimore Post into the organizations connected to Dance’s January indictment, revealed that almost all of the former superintendent’s undisclosed outside work involved providing professional development, coaching and consulting to school leaders across the country.

Dance, who was one of the top three highest paid superintendents in the state of Maryland, making $287,000 during his last year with the school system, was first zinged by revelations of his outside work when, in 2013, Chicago reporter, Sarah Karp, revealed Dance’s consulting work with SUPES Academy and a $875,000 contract Dance brought to the Baltimore County with the vendor.

That discovery led to the first of three ethics violations, when an independent ethics panel determined that Dance failed to disclose the SUPES side job to Baltimore County’s education board.

Although at the time Dance told The Baltimore Sun he earned $13,500 for the job, indictment records show that by that time he had already been paid approximately $90,000 by SUPES and its sister company, Synesi Associates, a consultant company owned by SUPES Academy’s proprietors that aimed to fix under-performing schools.

SUPES Academy, an educational professional development firm, which produced principal and superintendent graduates through a program taught by a cadre of school leaders, is at the core of a nationwide kickback scheme that has so far landed three key players in federal penitentiaries.

The two owners of SUPES conspired with a former Chicago Public Schools official that for every school system contract brought to the consultant company, the official would earn 10 percent of the contracted amount.

Majority owner, Gary Solomon, received seven years at FPC Deluth penitentiary in Minnesota for his role in the kickback scheme. Co-owner, Thomas Vranas, who is serving his time at Thomson ASP in Illinois, received an 18 month sentence. Barbara Byrd-Bennett, the Chicago schools official, a highly respected education leader with years of experience turning around under performing schools, received a 4.5 year prison sentence. Byrd-Bennet is serving her sentence at FPC Alderson in West Virginia. Each pleaded to one count of fraud, after being charged with 20 or more counts each.

While Dance’s state-level indictment is not connected to the federal-level kickback scheme, the charges against him include the roughly $90,000 of undisclosed payments he received in 2012 and 2013 from SUPES and Synesi Associates.

Chicago, Illinois – Seven hundred miles to the west of Dance’s former Towson, Maryland office, the brand new leader of Baltimore County Public Schools traveled throughout 2013 to coach Chicago principals for the Chicago Executive Leadership Academy – or CELA – on topics including “marketing one’s school system.”

CELA, which was the name given for that specific SUPES Academy program, consisted of “intensive leadership development” combined with mentoring by leading national superintendents, records show. Dance graduated from a Richmond Virginia-based SUPES Academy program in 2011.

Superintendents and other school leaders were recruited for CELA from across the country to train principals under the CELA program. Some Chicago principals criticized the program for being of low quality and wasteful of limited school resources.

Byrd-Bennett, who was at the time Chief Executive Officer for Chicago Public Schools and who worked previously as a SUPES consultant, arranged the program after introducing two no-bid contracts, totaling $22.5 million, between SUPES Academy and Chicago Public Schools. SUPES then hired school leaders from across the country to coach Chicago principals during the CELA program.

Dance was among those leaders hired as a paid consultant. He was also among five others identified by Karp, the Chicago reporter, for having also brought contracts to their respective school systems with SUPES, Synesi or another affiliate company, Proact Search, a school system employee search firm.

For revealing the scandal, the Education Writers Association recognized Karp for her in depth reporting on SUPES Academy and Chicago Public Schools. Karp was awarded second place for her series of investigative stories surrounding the scandal.

While Chicago Public Schools could not provide the dates of the CELA training, an official connected to the school system told the Baltimore Post that Dance participated as a consultant in “many, many” of the sessions.

The same year that Dance worked as a SUPES consultant, Gary Solomon submitted an application to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) in an attempt to gain approval to consult for Chicago Public Schools through his Synesi Associates school turnaround program.

The program aimed to help under-performing schools by identifying weak links – such as principals – and arranging meetings between vendors and school principals to fix problems in the schools.

The ISBE application listed Dance as one of among eleven “recently engaged team members” who had done work for Synesi as a consultant. It is unknown where Dance performed any work for Synesi.

Chicago Public Schools could not confirm if Dance was among the consultants hired for any of its schools, but Baltimore County financial records show several Chicago SAX Hotel charges throughout 2013, totaling over $3,000, in which both the CELA and Synesi sessions were taking place.

Baltimore County Public Schools chose not to respond to a 2016 records request asking for clarification of those charges.

Providence, Rhode Island – Three hundred miles to the north of Baltimore County schools’ Greenwood office, Dance took on work for a four-month job, earning $4,999 while working as a consultant for Providence Public Schools between March and June 2013. He was paid for the job through his consulting company.

Records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act show that Providence Schools’ former executive director of school transformation, Kregg Cuellar, recommended Dance to his school system, to coach three executive directors under him – or “ZEDs,” for “Zone Executive Directors.”

Cuellar would later be hired by Baltimore County Public Schools and is currently the system’s Zone 1 Community Superintendent.

Providence schools, which had then recently been separated into zones that were overseen by the three directors, also hired Dance to draft a plan on how the three ZEDs could improve supervision of the schools’ principals.

When the Rhode Island job concluded, Dance then took a shorter job in Ithaca, New York, where he delivered a $3,000, one-hour keynote speech to New York’s Ithaca City School District administrators during a Pearson-sponsored July 29-30, 2013 event, called EduStat. Dance spoke “on the role of technology in improving outcomes for all learners.”

Dance’s bio read, “This plan involves aligning goals, resources and actions to meet the needs of contemporary learners. Learners in the Baltimore County School Division are part of a digital conversion that involves laptop/mobile devices for all secondary students as well as a world language initiative that supports all students being bi-lingual upon graduation.”

“Dr. Dance’s keynote will provide a glimpse into contemporary leadership as well as the urgency associated with bold instructional initiatives.”

A year later, Baltimore County schools launched its laptop initiative.

Attendees of the EduStat event paid the event organizer – Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga Schools – up to $370 apiece to hear district leaders speak about best practices and pitfalls of the role of superintendent.

An official from Tompkins-Seneca told The Baltimore Post that Ithaca Schools requested Dance to speak at the event. Tompkins-Seneca also paid Dance $1,161.37 for travel expenses.

Pasadena, California –The Baltimore Post reported last month that Dance entered into a four-month, $42,501 contract with the Pasadena Unified School District.

An official for the school system said that Superintendent Brian MacDonald hired Dance because he knew Dance to be an inspiring speaker. The education leaders both previously worked at Houston Independent School District.

From February 1 to May 30, 2015, Dance coached up to 15 then-current and aspiring principals and provided in-person and virtual mentoring which included helping each participant to self-assess his or her skills.

Dance’s contract with the school system states that he also created individualized learning plans for each employee with whom he worked.

Records show that Dance entered the contract with the school system seven months after agreeing to cease all paid consulting work, a self-imposed consequence he chose for the 2014 ethics violation related to SUPES Academy consulting.

For his work with Pasadena schools, Dance delivered a keynote on February 12, 2015 for $3,000, earned $25,000 for an “Aspiring Leadership Session,”$10,000 to coach the principals, and was paid $4,501.06 for travel expenses he incurred during four in-person trips to the Pasadena.

From there, Dance traveled to Newport Beach, California and, on February 22, 2015, sat on four panels of education vendors for the Dulle Enterprise’s Education Research & Development Institute (ERDI) Winter Conference.

ERDI, an education consulting company that pairs its paying clients with education leaders that ERDI then pays, maintains its intention is to provide its clients with an opportunity to receive valuable feedback on its products and services. But by arranging meetings for its clients with school system leaders, critics say it provides opportunities for vendors to pitch its products and services while superintendents are paid by ERDI to listen.

Records obtained from Baltimore County schools, through a Maryland Public Information Act request, show that Dance sat on the four panels for a three-day conference, chairing one meeting for a company called Baker & Taylor.

The Baltimore Post reported last month that Baltimore County Schools signed off on payment for part of Dance’s expenses for the ERDI Conference. Copies of notated receipts, obtained from the school system through the records request, explicitly show the expenses were for the February 2015 conference.

In an email from a conference organizer regarding the event, Dance was told to ensure to accept dinner invitations received by its vendors, but to refrain from accepting invitations by companies he was not at the conference to specifically meet, through panels he was assigned to chair.

Travel records, credit card statements and an approved expense document confirm that Dance then immediately attended a February 26-28, 2015 American Association of School Administrators (AASA Conference) in nearby San Diego, California.

While Maryland prosecutors found that Dance earned $500 that year from AASA, the organization would not confirm with the Baltimore Post exactly how.

Research into the conference shows that during that year’s event, Dance and other Baltimore County employees spoke on topics related to the school system’s laptop program. Dance also gave a presentation on software program, Microsoft OneNote, during one of two Microsoft-sponsored presentations.

In May 2015, Dance again returned to Pasadena, California and delivered a $3,000 keynote speech for Pasadena Education Foundation’s May 20 annual spring event.

The Foundation is a 45 year-old non-profit organization whose mission is to support, enhance, and supplement the programs, initiatives, and priorities of Pasadena Unified schools. Dance was also reimbursed $838.01 for travel expenses for the event.

The Foundation’s director, Patrick Conyers, told The Baltimore Post last month that Dance spoke about his background and shared ideas on how “best to motivate young people and educators to reach their potential, and how communities can help.” Conyers said the speech was “positive and motivational” and that Dance’s “remarks were well received.”

But a year and a half would go by before Dance would resume what prosecutors allege was undisclosed work. From July 22-23, 2015, records show that Dance participated in a workshop for the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA) who hired him for its 2015-2016 New Superintendent Academy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Records obtained by The Baltimore Post show that Dance participated in Part-One of its three-part superintendent training. For a fee of $229, PASA members could take the courses to fulfill up to 75 hours for their superintendent training requirements.

Mark DiRocco, PASA’s executive director, said in a statement to The Baltimore Post that Dance received $1,000 from the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA) “for speaking and facilitating a session at a Workshop co-hosted by our organization in July of 2015. PASA hosts or co-hosts several conferences and workshops each year for school leaders and will often pay guest presenters a fee and travel expenses for their services.”

The description of Dance’s session, called “Entry,” stated the workshop dealt with the “the entry process” into the superintendency, “leading with the board to create a culture of teaching and learning”, “working with the Department of Education”, and the “superintendents role as ethical leader, team build(er),” the “superintendent as advocate,” and “wellness for school leaders.”

Columbia, South Carolina – Richland County Public Schools hired Dance as its keynote speaker for the school system’s 2015 Summer Leadership Academy which occurred one week after his Harrisburg stint. An agenda provided by the school system showed that on July 29, 2015, Dance spoke about “Courageous Leadership” and strategies for leading schools with courage. Dance also led a breakout session called “Courageous Principals” which discussed leaders having the courage to make tough decisions, while taking “difficult actions.”

The agenda stated, “Our keynote speaker, Dr. Dance, will provide strategies for leading schools with courage. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of placing student and adult learning at the center; striving to build a strong and united team; and being an instructional leader.”

Although an official for school system originally told The Baltimore Post that Dance was hired through a speaker’s bureau by a staff committee, when pressed for more information, system officials retracted the statement.

Payment was made directly to Dance in the amount of $ 5,768.97, which included travel expenses. Dance was hired for the job two months after the new superintendent took the helm. Both education leaders have ties to Richmond, Virginia.

Washington, D.C. – The Post reported last month that Dance accepted payment from the American Institutes of Research (AIR), a behavioral and social science research and evaluation organization that later did business with Baltimore County schools.

Dance worked as a consultant for AIR sometime in 2015 and was paid $1,500 for the job. Then, in the spring of 2017, Baltimore County’s education board approved a no-bid $750,000 contract, piggybacking on an unrelated agreement Chicago Public Schools had with the vendor.

The Baltimore Sun reported on an additional $750,000 contract Baltimore County secured after Dance left the system.

AIR released a statement to the Baltimore Post about Dance’s work, “The American Institutes for Research frequently works with consultants as part of its delivery of services to clients. The consultants are independent contractors and are not employees of AIR. Thus, they are solely responsible for reporting any payments they receive from AIR to other organizations or businesses to which they are affiliated and to local and federal tax authorities. Additionally, any organizations that contract for work with AIR are responsible for following appropriate procurement procedures, policies, and regulations.”

Before resigning from the school system in April 2017, Dance filed his 2016 financial disclosure forms. While he was required to name the organizations for which he worked, a change made it so he was no longer required to disclose the income.

That year, Dance reported work for the University of Richmond, Mathematica Policy Research and the Education Research and Development Institute.

Discussions with a few officials at the various organizations named in Dance’s indictment reveal he was a highly respected inspirational leader and speaker. Observations about the young education leader were consistent – and all of them kind.

Dr. Dance is presumed innocent unless and until there is a conviction. Update: Dance pleaded guilty to perjury charges on March 8. His plea was for five years with all but 18 months suspended. Dance could face up to five years. The judge will determine his sentence which is scheduled for April 20.